Snow Day!!!!!!!!

Well, the first real snow of the winter has arrived. I'll be honest...with the price of heating going up, it's been a real blessing that this is the first really cold run we've had. I do love to look at the snow, though I'm not a big fan of being out in it. Well, as far as school is going, boy it has been difficult to get back in the swing of things after our month long hiatus. We've started studying Westward Expansion and are currently reading about Daniel Boone, since his story is regional history. When warmer weather comes, I'd like to take a field trip to Sycamore Shoals where the treaty to buy Kentucky between the Cherokee's and Richard Henderson took place, sparking the cutting of the Wilderness Trail, a very important means of transportation through Kentucky and key in opening the western territory. Boone was an adventurer, to be sure! If there is a fine line between brave and foolish...Boone was it! His life is a peek into a time of great courage and is well worth studying. Here's some ideas and links if you're interested in a study on Mr. Boone.

*We are reading the Discovery Biography by Katharine E. Wilkie called "Daniel Boone: Taming the Wilds" but any book from your library would do.

* Lillie completed a state page (you can get it from Jimmie here) for Kentucky.

*We plan on playing some Cherokee games and maybe branching off a little into Sequoyah and the Cherokee Alphabet as well.

* Listen to an audio story about Daniel Boone from the Reading Well.

* Make a Log Cabin

*Study Tracking, Go Hunt for some tracks. Use Plaster of Paris to cast found tracks or make some of your own!

*Archiving Early America has Boone's Adventures in his own words!

Jackson has gotten great use out of his Lincoln Logs he got from his Nannie and Poppie at Christmas. He really has improved on his building!

For science, we are starting a unit on birds. I made the kids "field journals" in which we will be using notebooking instead of lapbooking, just cause it's easier for the kids to be involved in the making of the notebook, as opposed to the lapbook. We did a really neat activity when we studied bird songs. I found some sites with free bird sound effects and downloaded them onto a cd. Then, I played it through telling the kids what sort of birds they sounds were coming from. Some , like the rooster and the turkey, they knew right off...some were a bit more difficult. Then I played the cd again and had them identify without assistance the calls being made. If you want to try this, here are a couple of sound effect sites...

Partners in Rhyme Bird Songs

A1 Sound Effects

Now, here is a site that has a bird song game.

Here are links to three fun songs from Singing Science Records your kids are sure to find catchy...I did!

What Does A Bird Have That I Have Not?

The Birds Have a Language

How Does a Bird Sing?

I have more projects planned ...alot of notebooking and crafts and activities, so stay tuned. We plan on studying birds till the learning plays out!

Well, here's some random pictures of the the kids taken over the last week...

LOOK AT THAT NASTEEEEEEEEEEEEE MOUTH!LOOK AT THAT SAME NASTEEEEEEEEEE MOUTH TRYING TO LOVE ALL OVER ME!!!!!!

The scene this morning from the front porch

Sometimes it can be hard to be a Big Sister...

Like when Little Sis gets into Mommy's lip gloss and needs to be cleaned up and really isn't being very cooperative.

A very cold nature walk at Dad's house with cousins on Saturday! Dad and Roscoe.
Here's the kids marveling at the beauty of the snow, safely and warmly inside the house.
Tucker in on the action...
Chloe lookin' very comfy in her rocking chair...